This is part of Amicus and Slate’s “By the People” series, which explores how the American people can reclaim the Constitution—and the law—from this monarchical Supreme Court.

Popular constitutionalism reflects a simple ideal: The Constitution belongs not just to the courts, but to all of us. The American people can and should shape the meaning of the Constitution.

In fact, the Constitution’s design, which protects democratic voice and freedoms, has enabled Americans to shape constitutional meaning since the founding. We do so through many avenues: voting, protest, political party activism, lobbying, filing lawsuits, and writing op-eds, to name a few. By voting for particular presidents, citizens help shape the federal courts, as well as executive branch policy; in electing members of Congress, they weigh in on questions of federal lawmaking; by myriad other political actions, they bring public opinion to bear on decisionmakers who must interpret the Constitution in their official acts.

When pro-life voters turn out, they throw their weight behind a more restrictive reading of what counts as a fundamental “liberty” under the 14th Amendment. When pro-voting-rights groups lobby Congress, they reinforce a broad understanding of the 14th and 15th amendments. When someone donates to the American Civil Liberties Union to fund their litigation, or shows up at a Moms for Liberty meeting, they are actively engaging the Constitution’s meaning.

All these paths to influencing the Constitution are vital to our ability to function as a self-governing republic of equal citizens. Doing so keeps the Constitution at the center of our popular democratic culture, renewing our loyalty to the document and our sense of its relevance.

Listen to the first episode of the Amicus podcast miniseries By the People here:

But for popular constitutionalism to work, the people must have effective ways to influence constitutional interpretation in all three branches. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court’s rulings have increasingly undermined popular constitutionalism,........

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